Adelaide United chief executive Nathan Kosmina says the club will survive beyond the coronavirus pandemic
Adelaide United coach Gertjan Verbeek says he was surprised by the mass stand down at the Reds during the coronavirus pandemic.
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Adelaide United players, football and office staff have been encouraged to seek the Federal Government job seekers allowance after 80 per cent of the club’s workers were stood down on Wednesday.
Receiving just 50 per cent of March’s wages before being officially stood down on April 1 had upset some players but club officials confirmed all football staff will be paid for the month.
The club’s football department had received the news of the club’s survival action on Tuesday night as Reds staff could be entitled to earn $750 a week under the government scheme which is keen to keep people working full time during the coronavirus crisis.
Adelaide chief executive Nathan Kosmina says the club made the stand down decision to protect longevity after Football Federation Australia last week postponed the end of the A-League season at least until April 22.
Adelaide had five games remaining before the finals series.
“We’re getting as much information on it (job seekers allowance) as we can,’’ Kosmina said.
“All indications are the $1500 a fortnight would apply to our staff but we need to go through the necessary eligibility checks to understand what it looks like.”
Kosmina said the Reds wouldn’t stand in the way of club’s visa and Australians players or any coaching staff if they wanted to leave immediately.
Legally their contracts must be honoured with some players earning more than $300,000 a season while others that have been training full time and without first team contracts earned about $70 a week.
“They’ll have the opportunity to apply for their entitlements, annual leave,’’ Kosmina said.
“I don’t want to speculate on behalf of all of them, I would suggest they understand the situation but like everyone when it applies to you, you’re going to react in what is your best interests.
“Like us they’ve got mortgages, they’ve got bills to pay and they’re worried about the future.
“The bigger question is not the short term period while the league is postponed.
“The bigger question is what happens beyond this, that discussion will be ongoing after this period once we know what’s happening with the league.”
Kosmina also revealed that players did not now have to follow individual training programs during the time they have been stood down but he insisted the club would survive the crisis.
“The whole football program is on hold at the moment the only employee that is currently active is Bruce (Djite, football director),’’ Kosmina said.
“Survive and flourish, that is the key message, the owners have strong belief we’ll get through this.
“But again like everyone else it’s an indeterminate period that we’re working towards we don’t have a fixed end date that we know.”
The mass stand down also took coach Gertjan Verbeek by surprise.
“(I don’t) no believe the freeze will stop by end of April as most players have gone home and due to travel restrictions won’t be able to resume training easily,’’ Verbeek told Dutch newspaper Leeuwarder Courant.